A Preoccupied Attention makes Time move Faster

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles

The Apponale Tower - Riva del Garda - inside the tower - clock from the inside
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

When we put in the hard work, we expect to see quick results. We don’t have to wait on results when results take time. We can develop other projects while waiting for results to happen.

The old idiom, “A watched pot never boils.”  We might as well get the dinner table ready, or do something else than to stand and watch a pot.

Instead of waiting for something, let us do something—because before we know it, the pot of water will be boiling over.

When we wait, time seems slow but when our attention is preoccupied with doing something else, time seems to move faster.

Choose to Use Your Capacity To make Life Fulfilling

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles

The fork in the road
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Sometimes we have a tendency to forget about our unused capacity. We forget that we have the capacity to learn and to do new things.

We also forget that learning our native language was difficult. Learning to do all the things we’ve learned as children we now take for granted as adults.

As adults, we sometimes think we can no longer learn anything new. As children, we learn through our experiences. Now as adult, we can tap into the accumulated experiences and use it for resources to learn more interesting things to make life fulfilling.

We have a choice, we can choose to make life dull or we can make life exciting.

Positive Reinforcement Evokes Motivation

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Freedom

Undulating path, Bingley
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

We all need positive reinforcement to get us to do something. Encouragement reinforces motivation. Encouragement evokes the feeling of motivation to do something.

We all need a push every once in a while to get us going. Just a push is all we need to get into gear. Some of us, once we get going, can’t stop, or don’t want to stop.

And some of us are by nature self-motivating. Self-determining can be edifying and liberating because we aren’t bound by duty, we are free to do what we want within the boundaries and limitations.

Once we know the boundaries and limitations, then we can pursue our path.

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Observe, then Change it

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: behavior, change, Ericksonian Principles, observation

Labomed CxL
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

If we want to learn something about ourselves, we must observe ourselves. Most of our behaviors are done without our knowledge. If we want to make a change in a certain area in our lives we must observe what we do to resist change.

Change isn’t easy. But if we want to do something to fulfill our purposes, change is a prerequisite. Change is required. That’s why it’s true that if we want something, it requires great labor to get it.

Change requires labor. And labor that we’re not used to isn’t easy. Change is difficult but not impossible. However, observing our behaviors will help us seek out those behaviors that are keeping us from doing what we need to do to make change possible.

The hardest part about change is to maintain it. It’s something that we can continue to do is to keep out old habits and to maintain new changes until those new behaviors become new habits.

Time is the important element to the process of change. It takes time to develop new habits. Instead of waiting until tomorrow to start changing old habits, why not we start today.

It’s just a delay, if we wait for tomorrow. Remember tomorrow is just an illusion. If we think about it, tomorrow is not real but today is real because we’re in it.

Facing Daily Challenges

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Uncertainty, Unfairness

Running summer
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Dialog: Question: How’s it going? Answer: Same stuff, different day.

The same things that come into our lives repeatedly are the things we handle in the same way. Maybe if we change our attitudes about things that trouble us, we would be in a better place to handle them.

We are going to face challenges daily in our workplace and in our homes. The same things are going to creep up during our daily lives.

If we just accept them as opportunities as daily challenges, then we can conquer some of these challenges as we make it through the day.

Since we all know that these challenges are repeated offenders, then how come we’re surprised by them?  We quickly forget that we have gone through similar challenges before and we can tame our reaction responses and be proactive when they occur in our lives.

Change Your Prototype

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Perspectives

Dog is human's best friend
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Milton Erickson doesn’t tell his patients that they will need more flexibilility; instead he sets up the patients to do something to break up the inflexibility.

Rigidity can create a lot of anxiety in our lives. We all have rigidity, some more than others. Some of us wonder why we can’t or we won’t make changes that will help us in the long run.

One reason that we refuse to make changes in our lives is rigidity. Rigidity is a form of generalization. Once upon a time in our earlier lives we experienced a negative event.

That one negative event built a prototype in our minds, which created a generalization for future similar events.  For example, a dog bites a child; therefore, the child will always fear every dog that he or she meets.

It’s not true that all dogs the child will meet will bite.  So what needs to change is the prototype of the original event.

When hope is all we have

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Desires, Ericksonian Principles

HOPE
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Hope is a basic wish we want to fulfill. When things are turning for the worse, we grab a hold of hope, because we hope for a better outcome.

When things are beyond our control, we look for hope to guide us through trying times. Our hope begs for a little miracle to happen.

When everything has failed, hope is all we have. Hope is an expectation that something positive will come out of a difficult situation. Hope anticipates.

Hopes don’t guarantee us anything. But it’s all right to hope! We don’t have to hope for something better, alone; we can together, and that’s powerful!

The Things We Can’t Change

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Acceptance, Ericksonian Principles, Perspectives, Potential

Is the glass half empty or half full?
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

There are some things we can’t change.  Those things we can’t change, we must let go. Acceptance helps us to deal with things we can’t change.

Things that are beyond our control, we can’t change. Acceptance can be a powerful force, because we can steer our energies into something else that we can change.

Although we can change some things, we can definitely change our attitude on the way we see things. This is about changing our perspectives.

Just as acceptance can be a powerful force, changing our perspectives can be as well. They both can save us a lot of energy. Energy is the power within us that can be put into good use.

Stating the Obvious

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Beliefs, Doubt, Ericksonian Principles

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this exit? —CONFUCIUS

This above quote is stating the obvious. What is it that keeps us from seeing the obvious when it comes to solving a problem or finding a solution?

Once we see that the problem is solvable, it’s hard to go back to the original thinking. The solution is clear to us. We have dropped our assumption we had about the problem, thus in hindsight the solution seem so obvious.

We know that assumptions are beliefs we hold true without testing it. Our assumptions like to feed on our doubts. Assumptions are like having blinders on; we cannot see beyond them.

We can only see darkness, but if we take them off, then we can see clearly everything.

 

Learn, Adapt, and Survive

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, flexibility

Changing winds
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Adaptation is learning how to make adjustment in a difficult situation. If we don’t adapt we won’t survive. Adapting is an attitude as well.

Optimism is one of those attitudes we must adapt, if we’re going to survive. Being flexible is a keynote to adaptation. We must bend to changes in our environment.

We are one of the most adaptable creatures on the planet. We thrive to learn multiple ways to improve our lives. But we are creatures of habit and love our routines and predictable behavioral patterns.

It’s better to balance both—adaptability and routine.  For a routine, we need some sort of structure and for adaptation; we need some flexibility while changing is happening.

Finding Satisfaction In What We Do

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Motivation, Reward

Craft
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Whatever we do, it’s best to find satisfaction. Finding satisfaction in what we do can help us to keep quality in our work. Doing our best work increases our satisfaction.

With this satisfaction, no matter what it takes, we’re willing to put in the hard work. With the feeling of satisfaction, our attention is no longer on how much we dread doing the work; instead, our attention is focused on how little time we have doing what we call our labor of love.

Finding satisfaction in what we do also means that we look forward to doing the work we care most about. The work is no longer a job but a mission with a purpose. When we focus on our mission, our time we spent on our work becomes a valuable commodity.

Have You Started Your List Yet?

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Goal, Responsibility

To-do list book.
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

If we’re going to do something, we can write a to-do-list. A list makes things real not imagined. After we write a list, we can promise ourselves to at least do one or two things off the list.

Our goal isn’t to complete a list in one day, but to start it. Some of us may have a list of items that need more time while others may need a short time to complete.

It’s seems important to work on it daily to keep the momentum going.  Having multiple projects can be overwhelming and paralyzing to a point where procrastination can set in.

If we start slow but keep up a steadiness, we then can complete our projects. Sometimes we do have deadlines to meet but if we have an early start on our projects, then we have the opportunity to put in the time to complete them.

Today is all we have

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Goal

Sun set
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Today is all we have.  We can’t think about tomorrow when we only have today. But if we do think about tomorrow, then we should plan for tomorrow.

Certainly, we have today to do what we can do to work toward our goals we’ve set for this year. There are 24 hours in a day. Yes we do have responsibilities to take care of.

We can schedule our goals between our responsibilities. We can’t blame our responsibilities for not getting our goals completed. We still have to take out the garbage and brush our teeth.

We just have to make our goals another part of our daily routine.  Life doesn’t have to stop for us to complete our goals. But we can start working on our goals since we only have today.

Move From Within

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: drive, Ericksonian Principles, Motivation, self

view from the city walls
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Do we know our defenses?  Do we know what stops us from doing what we want to do? In psychoanalysis, a defense is a mechanism used to protect a bruised ego.

We don’t like to feel exposed because there is the possibility that when we succeed in something, we get noticed. When we get noticed there is potential for criticisms or attacks as well as praises.

This is one of many reasons why we fear success.  But we don’t have to base our motivations on external things but we can base our motivations on what drives us inside that moves us into action.

What drives us from within and where we place our attention is more important than reacting to criticisms and attacks, because they can be detractors, if we’re not too careful.

Be You, Not Me

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Acceptance, Ericksonian Principles, Freedom, self

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

One thing is true is that we can never be original when we continue to imitate someone. Each one of us is unique; therefore, it’s all right to find our own voice.

And it’s all right to find our own style. It’s all right to admire someone. What we are admiring is the person’s originality and uniqueness.

It’s all right being you.  It’s all right being me. This is where acceptance comes in to play. Self-acceptance encourages us to grow into what we should become. It’s feels right and natural when we become who we suppose to be.

Others like us not because of what things we do, but because of who we are as people.  What we do is a product of who we are.

Become One With A Task and Experience Briefly Eternity

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles

Our Galaxy
Written By Eugene Morgan

We know our attention is fully on a task, when everything in our peripheral vision has faded away. We know our attention is fully on the task, when we have forgotten the headache after a couple of hours later.

We know our attention is fully on the task, when we feel a satisfaction while working on the task. We know we’re truly focus on the task, when we feel in sync with our mind and body.

We know our attention is on the task, when nothing else seems to matter and that time seems to stop.  We know our undivided attention is on a task, when we have experienced briefly eternity to just be reminded that we’re finite beings but still alive.

You Have The Power Within To Follow Your Own Path

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: belief, Beliefs, Biases, creativity, drive, Ericksonian Principles, Freedom, Rigidity

rayo 3
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Our internal resource is our power to move things in our lives; resources that we have acquired over our lives through our experiences.

As long as we’re learning new experiences, we’re accumulating our power. The problem for most of us is learning to get access to our resources to help us to succeed in life.

Our limited frames of reference, our biases and our limitations tend to get in the way. These are the challenges that we have to contend with thus freeing some of these things so we can use what we already have within.

We tend to give our power away when we don’t follow our own path in life.  The power within us can free us from our biases, only if we open our minds up for new ideas and follow our own path.

Compassion Knows No Bounds

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles

Leadership
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Compassion is an unnatural need to help someone. Compassion is a natural need to help someone. The bottom-line is that someone is getting help.

It is satisfying when we help someone in need. Compassion is freely giving of our time. Compassion brings people together.

The reward is the work of compassion without expecting anything in return. Compassion is action. Compassion is having mercy without judgment. There is no substitute for compassion.

Compassion is real when it’s in action but without action, it’s just a word without power. Compassion in motion is a powerful force to be reckoned. Compassion in motion knows no bounds.

Reorienting Our Thinking while Vacationing

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Ericksonian Principles, Future Orientation

Krystal Internation Vacation Club (KIVC) Cancun
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

A get-a-way vacation is a useful way of reoriented our thinking. It’s easy to fall into a routine.  With a routine we tend to think about the same thoughts, which can trigger negative thoughts.

Getting out-of-town can help us to get out of our old routines and into something different. Getting into another atmosphere can decrease our stress.

So stress can trigger anxiety and anger, which can lead to depression, if not expressed properly.

But, when our attention is on something other than our old routines, our minds; freed.

So, when we return to our homes and jobs, we noticed things that we haven’t noticed before and look at things differently.

We look at things differently, because of our renewed minds and our energized bodies. Thus, our performance is better.

Goal Setting

Published on by Eugene Morgan Category: Effort, Ericksonian Principles, Motivation

goal
Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Yesterday was January 1, 2012. And today is now a new day to begin this year. It’s time to set new goals for this New Year. Some of us have long-term goals and some of us have short-term goals we want to complete.

Goals can help us to focus on what we want and need to do to complete a goal. Goals can keeps us from getting lost. So if we write a list of things we want to do, this will make our goals more concrete.

It’s hard to pinpoint what we need to do, if we just keep our goals just in our head. And the next thing we can do is make a to-do-list so we know what our plans are to complete the goal